In my last blog about social media myths, I mentioned that no product or industry is too boring for social media. I stand by this, but it is a lot easier to say than to do.
So here are six content marketing ideas for products or industries which (on the surface at least) are less than thrilling.

Tell the company’s history: Stories of how companies are formed tend to be interesting. They are normally to be stories of individuals taking risks and creating extraordinary things out of a single idea – these stories are interesting and an opportunity to talk about the foundations of the company and what it stands for today.

What else can my product do: It is possible that your product has a very specific purpose. But what else could it be used for? Applying your piece of technology in different scenarios could make for an interesting alternative way of displaying your key product features. Once you’ve seen one smoothie created you’ve seen them all – so why not blend an iPhone?

At least it’s visually interesting: I appreciate that this blog is not a good example of this, but rich media can add interest to otherwise not so interesting content. Video, images, sound files can all increase engagement in your content.

Tell interesting individual stories: Every organisation consists of people and behind people are interesting and personal stories. Choosing a handful of people and telling their story is a great way to engage your audience.

Watch your language: Every industry that I have worked in has suffered with technical terminology and TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms). These can turn interesting content into a confusing mess, so it is best to avoid it and write as if you are describing it to a layperson. This should allow you to explain what your company or product actually means to a layperson as well: what is the chain of events which connects your industry to people’s lives?

Don’t skip too much detail: It is likely that you audience will have at least a passing interest in your industry or product, so while you don’t want to make it very technical, you do want to go into some detail. Difficult balance, but the language that you choose and the medium that you use to communicate with become important here – a picture paints a thousand words….hopefully ones that people understand and engage with.

Do you work in a ‘boring’ industry? Have you had success with content marketing in spite of this / because of this?! Leave a comment and share your experience.